Storm Callum: UK braced for heavy rain and 70mph winds

Storm Callum is starting to make itself felt ahead of the arrival of torrential downpours and winds of up to 70mph over parts of the UK on Friday.

Heavy rainfall could present a risk to life, the Met Office said, as it issued a 36-hour amber warning for Wales where nearly a month’s rain could fall over 48 hours.

The forecast deluge poses a risk of communities being cut off by flooding, while high winds are expected to cause disruption across western areas of the UK.

The Met Office has issued a series of weather warnings stretching from the north-west coast of Scotland to Land’s End, including Northern Ireland, while a number of flood warnings and alerts are in force across south-west England and south Wales.

Winds were starting to pick up late on Thursday, with 48mph gusts recorded on the Isles of Scilly.

“We are also starting to see the rain push in to parts of south-west England and part of the Republic of Ireland,” Met Office meteorologist Alex Burkhill said.

“We’ve got a wind warning which covers all the western side of the UK from 3am. That in itself is likely to bring disruption to roads and there is likely to be some bridge closures and power outages.

“We also have yellow and amber warnings of between 50mm and 150mm of rain for Wales. That’s quite a substantial amount of rain to come and could bring flooding.”

The amber warning remains in place until 6pm on Saturday, while the broader yellow rain and wind warnings that include parts of north-west and south-west England, western Scotland and Northern Ireland will remain in place until midnight on Friday.

Good evening, tonight will be turning very wet and windy as Storm Callum approaches. Hannah here to answer all of your tweets! pic.twitter.com/HUNKK5q2bw